It’s a well-known fact that music streaming services have greatly impacted the music industry over the years – some say for the better, while others say it’s for the worse.

Spotify, the latest music streaming service to take off, is being accused of having a negative impact on sales. To confront this accusation, Spotify published ‘Adventures in the Netherlands’, a study on music piracy. To read the full study, click here.

Over 12 months, Will Page, Spotify’s director of economics, looked at 16 albums and 19 singles from 14 popular artists in the Netherlands. After analyzing this data, Page focused on the two best and worst sales to BitTorrent (a site used to illegally download and share music). The album ‘Take Me Home’ from One Direction had the highest sales-to-piracy ratio while other artists like Taylor Swift and Rihanna had lower ratios. Page mentions in the study that across all 14 artists studied, there was no evidence of high stream counts contributing to high piracy and low sales.

Despite Spotify’s study, others in the industry felt differently about Spotify’s impact on music sales. Nigel Godrich, Radiohead’s producer, attacked Spotify on Twitter by saying, “We’re off of Spotify. It’s bad for new music. It’s an equation that just doesn’t work.”

Daniel Ek, Spotify co-founder, disagreed with Godrich, responded by saying that streaming new tracks often generated a greater revenue for artists than downloads. He gave Jay-Z and Daft Punk as an example. Both artists had given their latest music to Spotify ahead of its official release date and not suffered any reduction in paid-for downloads.

What are your thoughts on streaming music services? Click here to send us a tweet and let us know whether you think they are good or bad for the music industry.

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http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/07/19/musicwrap-spotify-tackles-the-topic-of-music-piracy/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap#MusicWrap: The History of World Music Day (Fête de la Musique)http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/06/21/musicwrap-the-history-of-world-music-day-fete-de-la-musique/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/06/21/musicwrap-the-history-of-world-music-day-fete-de-la-musique/#commentsFri, 21 Jun 2013 23:31:03 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=3009]]>Every week, TicketForce brings you news on a hot topic in the world of music, theatre, sports or racing. This week’s #musicwrap features World Music Day, also known as Fête de la Musique.

Every year on June 21, people all around the world celebrate World Music Day. We were shocked to learn that 104 countries and 514 cities reportedly celebrate this special day! In addition to offering free concerts to the public, World Music Day also promotes peace and goodwill through music.

You may be wondering how this day came about. Well, it all started when American musician Joel Cohen of the Boston Camerata fame began an all-night music celebration in 1976 to mark the beginning of the summer solstice while he was on a scholarship to study music in Paris.

It is reported that French music and dance director Maurice Fleuret then pursued Cohen’s ideas, holding the very first Fête de la Musique in Paris in 1982. Cohen was also greatly inspired by a study on the cultural habits of the French. The study showed that out of the five million people in France, one out of two children played a musical instrument.

Since the inception of Fête de la Musique in 1982, June 21 has been celebrated as World Music Day for quite some time now. Some of the countries that celebrate World Music Day include: Argentina, Australia, Britain, China, Costa Rica, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, India, Lebanon and many more.

Around the world, you can find musicians performing on the streets as well as performing on stage free of charge to the public. To this day, World Music Day still promotes offering free music to the public and also having performers donate their time for free.

Share with us how you’re celebrating World Music Day by sending a tweet to @ticketforce or leaving a comment below. Happy World Music Day!

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/06/21/musicwrap-the-history-of-world-music-day-fete-de-la-musique/feed/0tfadmin2Fête de la Musique#MusicWrap: The History of Daft Punk’s Famous Helmetshttp://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/05/24/musicwrap-the-history-of-daft-punks-famous-helmets/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/05/24/musicwrap-the-history-of-daft-punks-famous-helmets/#commentsFri, 24 May 2013 09:30:47 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2944]]>Every week, TicketForce brings you the latest news surrounding one of four industries: music, theatre, sports or racing. This week’s #musicwrap explores the world of Daft Punk and those crazy helmets that no one really understands.

Daft Punk is a popular EDM (electronic dance music) duo that is well known all over the world. Members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo became very popular for their remixes of songs like “Stronger” by Kanye West and “Touch It” by Busta Rhymes.

Ever since the 90s, this robotic team has been creating a universal image of themselves by wearing their signature robot helmets. The question that many have been asking is, “Why they are so connected to the helmets?” Today we are going to explain how Daft Punk’s helmets originated.

Aside from the helmets being entertaining, flashy, a crowd favorite and a spectacle, Daft Punk has more meaning behind their masks. Daft Punk didn’t start out with the flashy helmets they have now but instead started with black bags that they wore on their heads. The first versions of their helmets incorporated curly haired and straight haired wigs. Soon enough, these masks would develop into the iconic robot masks we know today.

De Homen-Christo has stated, “We’re not performers, we’re not models – it would not be enjoyable for humanity to see our features – but the robots are exciting to people.”

In 2001, Daft Punk pulled off their hair, revealing the new helmet’s sleek design. Today, Bangalter and de Homen-Christo own many different versions of the helmets, each with different features such as air conditioning, communication systems, visual effects and more! Did you know that the same Hollywood special-effects shop that worked on the latest Spider-Man film also made Daft Punk’s newest helmets?

“One thing I like about the masks is that I don’t have people constantly coming up to me and reminding me what I do,” said Bagalter. Wearing helmets has provided Daft Punk member with anonymity that other artists are envious of. Daft Punk have even talked about how they sometimes ride the New York subway without people recognizing them.

With a new album now out, the excitement for this robotic duo is only expected to continue. Which musical icon has stuck in your mind? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet – @ticketforce.

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/05/24/musicwrap-the-history-of-daft-punks-famous-helmets/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap: The History of Daft Punk's Famous Helmets#SportsWrap: Stanley Cup Playoffs Heat Uphttp://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/05/03/sportswrap-stanley-cup-playoffs-heat-up/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/05/03/sportswrap-stanley-cup-playoffs-heat-up/#commentsFri, 03 May 2013 20:40:53 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2913]]>Every week, TicketForce brings you exciting news on one of four industries: sports, racing, music and theatre. This week’s #sportswrap features the long-awaited NHL playoffs.

Despite this year’s NHL season getting a slow start, the Stanley Cup playoffs are officially underway and this year’s matchups are more exhilarating than ever. Four games will take place tonight: Senators vs. Canadiens, Islanders vs. Penguins, Wild vs. Blackhawks and Sharks vs. Canucks.

The Washington Capitals and New York Rangers made their playoff debut last night, ending with a 3-1 victory for the Capitals. Although the Rangers led 1-0 at the first intermission, the Capitals outscored them 3-0 in the second period.

The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby missed nearly a month from the regular season recovering from a broken jaw, but he will return to action tonight for Game 2 of the Penguins’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Islanders. The Penguins won Wednesday’s opening game of the series 5-0.

“I think every time you play in the playoffs there’s always a little bit extra, especially coming back after missing some time,” Crosby said. “I think you just want to make sure you’re ready, but we’re all excited to play in those kinds of games, you welcome that, these are the ones you want to be in.”

Who do you think will win the Stanley Cup this year? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet – @ticketforce.

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/05/03/sportswrap-stanley-cup-playoffs-heat-up/feed/0tfadmin2#SportsWrap: Stanley Cup Playoffs Heat Up#MusicWrap: Accounting for An Artist’s Studio Timehttp://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/04/26/musicwrap-accounting-for-an-artists-studio-time/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/04/26/musicwrap-accounting-for-an-artists-studio-time/#commentsFri, 26 Apr 2013 18:21:32 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2902]]>Every Friday, TicketForce brings you a wrap-up of an important event in one of four industries: music, theatre, sports and racing. This week’s #musicwrap features the music industry’s new impact on the U.S. economy.

Currently, the combined sales of an artist’s concert tickets, downloaded songs and old-school CDs count toward the United State’s gross domestic product. One factor that does GDP does not account for is the talent itself that creates the music.

“It’s quite analogous to a factory investing in a new machine,” said Dan Sichel, a Wellesley economist. So, how exactly will this affect the economy? It is estimated that the change will add approximately three percent to the size of the U.S. economy. To learn more, check out NPR’s story.

What do you think about the new change to impact both the music industry and U.S. economy? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet – @ticketforce. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/04/26/musicwrap-accounting-for-an-artists-studio-time/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap: Accounting for An Artist's Studio Time#MusicWrap: Should Selling Old MP3s Be Legal?http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/04/05/musicwrap-should-selling-old-mp3s-be-legal/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/04/05/musicwrap-should-selling-old-mp3s-be-legal/#commentsFri, 05 Apr 2013 21:32:18 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2872]]>Do you remember the days when buying CDs was popular? It was always a special treat to take a trip to the music store and browse through CDs, picking your favorite ones to take home – even if you only liked one song from the whole album. When you got tired of a CD, you took it to a music store and sold it so that someone else could enjoy it.

Those days have passed with the rise of the digital age. Music fans can now easily purchase individual songs without the added clutter of plastic cases filling their cars – but what happens when you get tired of your music?

ReDigi decided that selling old music shouldn’t stop in the digital age, so they created a digital used record store where music fans can sell old mp3s and purchase other peoples’ used mp3s.

Captiol Records heard about this concept and of course wasn’t very pleased – they sued ReDigi for copyright infringement. Their complaint alleged that “ReDigi makes and assists its users in making systematic, repeated and unauthorized reproductions and distributions of Plaintiffs copyrighted sound recordings.”

ReDigi’s rebuttal was that you should be able to sell digital music just as you can a physical CD. Unfortunately for ReDigi, a New York judge disagreed, stating that, “ ReDigi stresses that it “migrates” a file from a user’s computer to its Cloud Locker, so that the same file is transferred to the ReDigi server and no copying occurs. However, even if that were the case, the fact that a file has moved from one material object – the user’s computer – to another – the ReDigi server – means that a reproduction has occurred.”

What are your thoughts on this controversial issue? Should selling old MP3s be legal? Share your thoughts with us by sending a tweet to @ticketforce.

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/04/05/musicwrap-should-selling-old-mp3s-be-legal/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap: Should Selling Old MP3s Be Legal?#RacingWrap: 2013 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prixhttp://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/03/23/racingwrap-2013-formula-1-malaysian-grand-prix/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/03/23/racingwrap-2013-formula-1-malaysian-grand-prix/#commentsSat, 23 Mar 2013 00:14:40 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2852]]>Every week, TicketForce brings you news on one of four industries: racing, sports, music and theatre. This week’s #racingwrap features the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix that will take place this Sunday, March 24 in Sepang, Malaysia.

“It’s one of the most physically demanding races of the year — for both the drivers and their machinery — and the race will be tough for all competitors,” said Martin Whitmarsh, director of the McLaren Mercedes team.

The Malaysian Grand Prix will take place just one week after the Australian Grand Prix. This leaves Formula 1 teams with little opportunity to make modifications to their cars between the two races. In addition, the race track in Malaysia was built on a former swamp in a palm oil plantation. Drivers will have to beware of the weather conditions, which can range from extreme heat and humidity to torrential monsoon conditions.

The results for the second practice have been revealed and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen finished with the quickest time, just 0.019 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Raikkonen, who already won the opening race in Australia, has gained much attention from fellow competitors as a result of his strong finishes at both practices. Oddly enough, all the racers are in roughly the same order as they were at the Australian Grand Prix. The final practice session takes place on Saturday morning.

Will you be tuning in to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix? Leave a comment below or send a tweet to @ticketforce.

“I learned of my supposed ‘termination’ from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press,” Weiland said in a statement on Wednesday. “Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out.”

The exact reason for firing Weiland has not yet been announced. Weiland has made accusations that the band did it as a publicity stunt in order to boost ticket sales. This is not the first time that the Stone Temple Pilots have been without Weiland. In 2002, Weiland left Stone Temple Pilots and formed Velvet Revolver. In 2008, Weiland rejoined the DeLeo brother and Eric Kretz.

What are your thoughts on the Stone Temple Pilots firing Weiland? Leave a comment below or send us a tweet – @ticketforce.

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/03/01/musicwrap-the-stone-temple-pilots-fire-scott-weiland/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap: The Stone Temple Pilots Fire Scott Weiland#MusicWrap – What to Expect from the Super Bowl Halftime Showhttp://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/02/01/musicwrap-what-to-expect-from-the-super-bowl-halftime-show/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/02/01/musicwrap-what-to-expect-from-the-super-bowl-halftime-show/#commentsFri, 01 Feb 2013 20:34:12 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2763]]>Every Friday, TicketForce brings you a wrap-up of an important event in one of four industries: music, theatre, sports and racing. This week’s #musicwrap features the Super Bowl halftime performance.

This Sunday, millions of people will be tuning in to watch Super Bowl XLVII. As Beyoncé prepares, the pressure of her performance is not letting up. All eyes will be on her performance, especially with the lip-syncing controversy following her rendition of the national anthem during President Obama’s second inauguration.

What can we expect from this years performance? Beyoncé has released Super Bowl rehearsal footage and has been revealing behind-the-scenes rehearsal shots on her Tumblr page. Beyoncé also addressed the lip-syncing controversy by publicly announcing that she will not be lip-syncing during the halftime performance.

Rumors have also been swirling about a possible Destiny’s Child reunion. While the reunion cannot be confirmed 100%, numerous media outlets are reporting that the group will be performing together. Along with Beyonce’s powerhouse vocals, fans can expect an amazing performance, coupled with plenty of dancing.

Will you be tuning in this Sunday to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance? Leave a comment at the bottom of this page or send a tweet to @TicketForce with your thoughts.

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/02/01/musicwrap-what-to-expect-from-the-super-bowl-halftime-show/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap – What to Expect from the Super Bowl Halftime Show#MusicWrap: SXSW 2013 – More Than a Music Festivalhttp://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/01/04/musicwrap-sxsw-2013-more-than-a-music-festival/
http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/01/04/musicwrap-sxsw-2013-more-than-a-music-festival/#commentsFri, 04 Jan 2013 22:57:14 +0000http://blog.ticketforce.com/?p=2697]]>Now that 2013 is in full swing, music fans from all over are anticipating this year’s upcoming music festivals. This week’s #musicwrap features an event that is way more than a just a music festival. South by Southwest (SXSW) is “something of an all-purpose pop culture destination” that includes not just music, but also technology, film and Q&A from industry leaders.

Diffuser.fm describes SXSW as, “One of the year’s longest and most crowded festivals — as well as arguably its most hotly anticipated”. SXSW also earned a spot on Diffuser.fm’s list of 10 Must-See Music Festivals for 2013.

SXSW’s attendance has grown rapidly over the years – from having only 700 registrants in 1987 to nearly 12,000, and it’s no wonder why. The way that SXSW combines music, film and technology is unlike any other festival.

This year SXSW will take place from March 12-17 in Austin, Texas. As for the lineup for SXSW – we’re not even going to attempt to summarize or choose our favorite performers from the over 2,000 that are scheduled. To check out the crazy long list for yourself, click here.

Which music festival do you think will attract the most people in 2013? Leave a comment at the bottom of this page or send a tweet to @TicketForce with your thoughts.

]]>http://blog.ticketforce.com/2013/01/04/musicwrap-sxsw-2013-more-than-a-music-festival/feed/0tfadmin2#MusicWrap: SXSW 2013 - More Than a Music Festival